worked with the local school board to address potential health concerns, and soon, continuous air monitors will be installed on school property. In addition, with their urging, the local school board voted and sent a letter to Mt. Pleasant Township urging local decision-makers to deny or at least postpone approval for another Range Resources well pad near the school.
Jane is part of a growing movement of parents, homeowners, and small business owners who are beginning to ask their local authorities, as the final gatekeepers of all oil and gas projects, to not simply rubber-stamp operators’ plans but instead take a more reasoned, more transparent, and more comprehensive consideration of the myriad health and quality of life impacts that heavily industrial activities such as fracking bring to rural, farming communities. In Mt. Pleasant, parents have been attending local public hearings and are advocating for greater transparency and more protection for children should the project go forward, including limiting how and when Range would be able to drill and frack the additional well near the Fort Cherry School. These local parents turned activists, including Jane, feel that drilling and fracking at Range’s proposed well pad should not occur during school hours. It is unclear what local government officials will decide, but Jane and her children are bracing themselves should approval be given. Damien and Lexi talk about what it might be like this time if Range fracks near their school again. “Children should never have to worry about whether they’ll be safe at school,” Jane sighs. Waiting to hear, particularly for this family, is difficult, but Jane knows that she and the other parents in this community have done what they can.
Not surprisingly, Lexi appears to be following in her mother’s activist footsteps. Together, she and Jane, along with members of another grassroots campaign known as Mom’s Clean Air Force, took their message to Washington, D.C. in July. According to Jane, lots of kids, including Lexi, were front and center in meetings with U.S. Senators and other decision makers. Legislative meetings were arranged and these warrior moms discussed, among other things, the importance of making EPA’s new rules to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations as strong – and tightly enforced – as possible. Next they’ll be taking their message to Harrisburg, as well. “Someone has to start listening to us,” Jane insists.
Jane’s daughter may be shy, but fracking has pushed this Lexi to find her voice. It’s unclear what the long-term consequences of the benzene exposure will mean for her, and her mother is well aware that benzene is known to cause cancer, but for now they both are focused on looking toward a brighter future. Despite her fear of nosebleeds, Lexi found the courage to shelve her anxiety and wear a white dress to her 6th grade graduation. “And I’m really looking forward to moving to the high school,” she continues. The building that houses grades 7-12 is on the same campus, one hill over from the elementary school building. Although still hyper-aware of where drilling and other oil and gas activities occur, she smiles with conviction and explains, “It’s on a higher hill. That means it’s safer.”
The Ferret
Published on May 26, 2017
People living in Pennsylvania have a message for people in Scotland, where the government is considering lifting a moratorium on fracking. https://theferret.scot/dont-scotland-...
Jane Worthington is one of many voices on fracking in Pennsylvania. A major US investigation for The Ferret – funded by the digital campaign group, 38 Degrees – has uncovered widespread concerns about health and quality of life where unconventional oil and gas is being exploited. Our reporting team in the US heard numerous warnings about the lessons that should be learned, and discovered direct connections with Scotland.
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Article also available on National Geographic
https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2016/11/16/living-in-the-shadow-of-fracking/
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